[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2770 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2770

To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to strengthen the food safety 
 inspection system by imposing stricter penalties for the slaughter of 
                        nonambulatory livestock.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 13, 2008

 Mrs. Feinstein (for herself, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Akaka, and Mrs. Boxer) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Meat Inspection Act to strengthen the food safety 
 inspection system by imposing stricter penalties for the slaughter of 
                        nonambulatory livestock.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Downed Animal Enforcement Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF INSPECTION SERVICES RELATING TO SLAUGHTER OF 
              NONAMBULATORY LIVESTOCK.

    Section 401 of the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 671) is 
amended--
     (a) by striking ``The Secretary may'' and inserting the following:
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may''; and
    (b) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(b) Suspension of Inspection Services Relating to Slaughter of 
Nonambulatory Livestock.--
            ``(1) Definition of nonambulatory livestock.--In this 
        subsection, the term `nonambulatory livestock' means any 
        amenable species that will not stand and walk unassisted.
            ``(2) Prohibition.--It shall be a violation of this Act for 
        an establishment--
                    ``(A) to slaughter any nonambulatory livestock or 
                to prepare any carcass or part of a carcass, or meat or 
                meat food product, from any nonambulatory livestock, 
                for use as human food; or
                    ``(B) to fail to comply with Public Law 85-765 
                (commonly known as the `Humane Methods of Slaughter Act 
                of 1958') (7 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) (including 
                regulations promulgated under that Act), for the 
                treatment and slaughter of livestock.
            ``(3) Penalties.--In addition to any other penalties 
        imposed under this Act or any other provision of law for a 
        violation described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall, with 
        respect to any establishment that commits a violation described 
        in that paragraph--
                    ``(A) for the first violation, impose a civil 
                penalty based on a percentage of the gross income of 
                the establishment, as determined by the Secretary by 
                regulation so that the same percentage applies to all 
                establishments, with amounts collected retained by the 
                Food and Safety Inspection Service, to be available 
                without appropriation or fiscal year limitation;
                    ``(B) for the second violation, suspend inspection 
                service under title I for a period of 1 year; and
                    ``(C) for the third violation, permanently withdraw 
                inspection service under title I.''.

SEC. 3. REGULATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, in order to improve voluntary food recall and public 
notification procedures in the event of a meat or poultry recall by the 
Secretary, the Secretary shall promulgate final regulations that 
provide for public disclosure of a comprehensive list of establishments 
at which recalled meat or poultry is known to be available to the 
public for consumption or sale.
    (b) Procedure.--The promulgation of the regulations described in 
subsection (a) shall be made without regard to--
            (1) the notice and comment provisions of section 553 of 
        title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary of Agriculture 
        effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to 
        notices of proposed rulemaking and public participation in 
        rulemaking; and
            (3) chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code (commonly 
        known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'').
    (c) Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking.--In carrying out 
this section, the Secretary shall use the authority provided under 
section 808 of title 5, United States Code.
                                 <all>